Controllable air conditioning outlet



March "15, 1966 R. R. LAMBERT CONTRQLLABLE AIR CONDITIONING OUTLET Filed March 16, 1964 RT we m NE E W m W 1 m T mm 4 WW EB M Lin. 5. 24C

United States Patent 3 240,145 CONTROLLABLE Alli CONDHTEQNING OUTLET Robert R. Lambert, Glendora, tjalif, assignor to Air Factors, Inc, Covina, Calif, a corporation of California Filed Mar. 16, 1964, Ser. No. 352,281 Claims. (Cl. 93-49) The present invention pertains to an air conditioning outlet which can be selectively controlled to modify the amount and direction of air discharged from the outlet and which further will mix a portion of the air within a room with fresh incoming air.

Air conditioning outlets are now standard equipment for practically at modern buildings. With the suspended type ceilings, which are prevalent in the larger buildings, air conditioning ducts are disposed above the ceiling and communicate with a plurality of air conditioning outlets which extend through the ceiling. These outlets often extend flush with the bottom surface of the ceiling and blend in with the ceiling so that they are hardly noticed.

The placement of the outlets within a room is the job of the air conditioning engineer. He must be concerned with the location of each outlet so that it will function with the other outlets to maintain as near as possible a uniform temperature within the room and air environment which is comfortable to all occupants.

One design factor which is of paramount importance to the engineer is the placement of the air conditioning outlets so that undesirable drafts will not be created in the space or room. The engineer considers the spacing between the outlets, their relationship to wall surfaces and the direction in which the air is to be discharged. Economic and esthetic considerations maks it desirable to use outlets of the same size, construction and appearance throughout a building which may have many rooms greatly varying in size and shape. It is difiicult to allocate specially designed outlets (each adapted to discharge air in one, two, three or four directions) for installation in particular locations in specified rooms and to have them actually installed by available labor in such locations and rooms. inevitably error is made in the position and location and the outlets fail to perform as planned and have to be replaced. Moreover, when a large room or floor area is later subdivided by partitions into smaller rooms, the direction of air discharge must be changed and this can be done on rnost outlets only by laborious, time consuming modification or replacement.

There is a need in the air conditioniiig field for an outlet including means capable of easy adjustment to selectively control and modify the direction or quantity of air discharged from the outlet after it is installed. When a four direction outlet for example, finds itself adjacent a partition, and a portion or even all of the air directed toward the partition should be cut off, this can be readily accomplished without removal of the unit.

The present invention provides a novel control means for an air conditioning outlet which can be selectively adjusted to either reduce or cut off altogether the air discharged in a particular direction from the outlet. Accordingly, the distribution and fiow of air within a room can be selectively tailored after installation to provide an environment which will satisfy all the occupants. At the same time the present invention provides a novel means within the air conditioning outlet for m xing the air within the room with incoming air.

A general object of the present invention is to provide an air conditioning outlet which will overcome the aforementioned disadvantages of prior art air conditioning outlets.

Another object is to provide a simply constructed control means for a ventilating outlet, which means can be selectively adjusted to modify the direction and proport on of gas discharged from the outlet.

A further object is to provide a ventilating outlet which will mix air in a room with incoming air so as to provide a more even temperature condition and which can be selectively controlled to modify the direction and proportion of air discharged therefrom.

Still a further object is to disclose and provide a novel control means adapted for installation in heating and ventilating outlets.

Other objects and many of the attendant advantages of this invention will become readily apparent by reference to the following detailed description and drawing wherein:

FIG. 1 is a side vertical view of an exemplary air conditioning outlet with a portion of the side cut away to facilitate a better understanding of the interior structure:

FIG. 2 is a bottom horizontal view of the four way air conditioning outlet with a portion of the discharge plate cut away;

FIG. 3 is a bottom View of the outlet showing the control means adjusted by block off discharge air from one direction;

FIG. 4 is another bottom view of the outlet showing the control means adjusted to block off discharge air from two directions; and

FIG. 5 is still another bottom view of the outlet showing the control means adjusted to block off discharge from three directions.

FIGS. 1 and 2 show an exemplary air conditioning outlet which has a supply neck 12 connected to a perforated discharge plate 14 by an outwardly flaring hood 16. The discharge plate 14 may be remova bly fastened to the bottom of the hood by any suitable means, such as sheet metal screws extending through the plate and screwed into a peripheral flange of the hood.

The supply neck is adapted to be connected to a duct (not shown) which will feed air to the outlet for discharge within a room. The outlet may be mounted in a suspended ceiling with the bottom face of the discharge plate 14 virtually co-planar with the bottom surface of the ceiling along the phantom line shown in FIG. 1. Alternatively, the outlet may be suspended from the ceiling or even mounted in a wall. A damper having a series of pivoted vanes 18 may be installed in supply neck 12, the vanes being connected to a linkage (not shown) whereby the vanes may be simultaneously rotated to selected position.

The outlet is provided with a control which can be selectively adjusted to modify the direction and proportion of air discharged from the outlet. This control may include a series of control plates 20a, 20b, and 200 which are supported within the outlet by an elongated support strap 22. The strap 22, which may be of metal, may be connected at its ends to opposite inner sides of the hood 16 by any suitable means such as brackets, as shown in the drawings. Alternatively, a portion of the ends of the strap could be bent downwardly to take the place of the bracket and be welded directly to the hood.

The control plates may rest directly on the top of the strap 22 in an overlying relationship with respect to one another. Each control plate is provided with a slot as 24a, 24b, 24c, which can extend from near one edge medially to past center. A single connector 26 may extend vertically through the support strap 22 and elongated slots 24 which are provided in each control plate. Accordingly, this arrangement allows the plates to be slid laterally as a unit in various directions on the strap 22 or slid laterally with respect to one another to provide selected closures for the outlet.

The connector may take many forms such as a screw and nut shown in the drawings and the nut may even be of a wing nut type so as to facilitate a loosening and tightening of the assembly. When the connector is loose, the control plates may be moved laterally to desired positions within the outlet and when the nut is tightened the control plates will be locked in the set positions.

The elongated slots 24 enable the control plates to be moved laterally along or across the strap 22. Each slot may be of a suificient length so as to enable an edge of the control plate to contact a respective inner side of the hood 16 and block air from being discharged from that side. While the invention is not confined to rectangular shaped control plates and a hood of rectangular cross section, as shown in the drawings, this feature does enable a desirable blockage of air along a substantial length when a control plate contacts a respective hood side.

The frontal area of each of the plates is preferably smaller than the cross-sectional area of neck 12, so that when the plates are in superimposed or stacked relation (FIGS. 1 and 2) the outlet is in effect a four-way difluser, air being discharged in four directions through the perforated discharge plate 14 at acute angles to the plane of the ceiling.

The outlet also insures mixing of air from the room with air supplied through the neck of the outlet. I have discovered that by arranging the parts of the outlet in a novel relationship with respect to one another, an unusually good mixing action is obtained. This is accomplished by positioning the fiat sides of the support strap 22 within a plane which is parallel to the discharge plate but spaced therefrom. Since the control plates rest on the strap 22 each of these plates will likewise be positioned in a respective plane which is parallel to the discharge plate. The lower surface of the bottom control plate a may be positioned in a plane which is closer to the discharge plate 14 than to the supply neck 12 and preferably should be positioned between 0.2 and 0.5 inch from the discharge plate. Accordingly, a low pressure area is developed immediately above the discharge plate 16 when air is discharged between the control plates and the inner sides of the hood. As shown by the arrows in FIG. 1, this area under vacuum within the outlet will draw air from the room back into the outlet and mix it with the incoming air. This aspirating and mixing action will eliminate undesirable cool drafts and will maintain a more even temperature within the room.

The mixing action may be further facilitated by properly proportioning the size of the control plates, the discharge plate 14 and the supply neck 12. The frontal surface of each control plate is smaller than the crosssectional area of the neck 12 and the discharge plate 14 preferably has an overall area of from 1.7 to 2.7 times as large as the cross-sectional area of the neck. Furthermore the total area of perforations in the discharge plate should approximate the cross-sectional area of the neck 12. Under such conditions, air flow between the edges of the control plates and the inner surfaces of the hood 16 creates a desirable low pressure within the aforementioned area and a more uniform and comfortable condition in the room. I

The adjustment and operation of the air control is very simple. The discharge plate is removed, the connector is loosened and the control plates are selectively rotated and moved to block off any desired portion of the air and then the locking screw is tightened. FIG. 2 shows a four-way discharge position. In FIG. 3, all of the control plates are slid crosswise the support strap 22 so that they contact the inner side of the hood, shown to the right in FIG. 3. Substantially no air will be discharged to the right of the outlet and this arrangement results in a threeway outlet.

In FIG. 4 two directions are blocked off by any two of the control plates contacting opposite inner walls of the hood whereby the outlet has been converted to a two-way, opposite direction outlet. In FIG. 5 all three of the control plates are in operation to block off the discharge air from three sides, resulting in a one-way outlet.

By providing one or more of the control plates with another slot, at about 45 to the medial slot (as indicated in dash lines in FIG. 5 and identified as 24d), such plate can be moved into a corner position to more effectively prevent corner discharge.

It is interesting to note that no matter where the control plates are disposed, a vacuum area will be provided immediately below the plates for drawing air from the room to bring about the mixing action. It is to be understood that the air conditioning outlet can be used as an outlet for discharging any type of gas.

Obviously many modifications and variations of the present invention are possible in the light of the above teachings. It is therefore to be understood that within the scope of the appended claims that the invent-ion may be practiced otherwise than as specifically described.

I claim:

1. In a ceiling type air conditioning outlet having a supply neck adapted to be connected to a duct, a perforated discharge plate lying in a plane spaced from said neck and an outwardly flaring hood connecting said neck and plate, the provision of a selectively adjustable control means for modifying the direction and proportion of gas discharge from the discharge plate and for facilitating mixing of gas, comprising:

a support and stiffening bar attached to opposite sides of a hood and lying in a plane parallel to a discharge plate but closer to said discharge plate than to said neck;

a plurality of control plates, each provided with a slot, adapted to be supported by said support bar; and

a single connector means carried by the support bar and extending through the slots for positioning said plates in desired laterally extending positions in a plane spaced from said discharge plate to thereby modify the direction and proportion of gas discharged from said plate.

2. An outlet 'cpnstruction as stated in claim 1 wherein each of said control plates has a frontal surface area smaller than the cross-sectional area of the neck and said discharge plate has an overall area of from 1.7 to 2.7 times as large as the cross-sectional area of said neck, the total area of perforations in said discharge plate approximating the cross-sectional area of the neck.

3. An outlet construction as stated in claim 1 wherein each of said control plates has a frontal surface area smaller than the cross-sectional area of the neck, said plates are positioned in a plane 0.2 to 0.5 inch from the discharge plate, and said discharge plate has an overall area of from 1.7 to 2.7 times as large as the crosssectional area of said neck, the total area of perforations in said discharge plate approximating the cross-sectional area of the neck.

4. An outlet construction as stated in claim 1 wherein each slot is of a sufiicient length so as to enable an edge of the respective control plate to contact a side of said hood.

5. A simple and selectively adjustable control means,

adapted for installation in heating and ventilating outlets having an outwardly flaring hood communicating a supply neck with a ported discharge of larger total area than the cross section of said neck comprising:

a metal support strap having end portions adapted for connection to opposite sides of a flaring hood; a plurality of control plates, each provided with a slot,

adjustably supported by said support strap; and a connector means extending through said slots and cooperating With said strap for locking said plates in 10 References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2/ 1958 Kennedy 98-40 5/1962 Phillips 9840 WILLIAM F. ODEA, Primary Examiner. 

1. IN A CEILING TYPE AIR CONDITIONING OUTLET HAVING A SUPPLY NECK ADAPTED TO BE CONNECTED TO A DUCT, A PERFORATED DISCHARGE PLATE LYING IN A PLANE SPACED FROM SAID NECK AND AN OUTWARDLY FLARING HOOD CONNECTING SAID NECK AND PLATE, THE PROVISION OF A SELECTIVELY ADJUSTABLE CONTROL MEANS FOR MODIFYING THE DIRECTION AND PROPORTION OF GAS DISCHARGE FROM THE DISCHARGE PLATE AND FOR FACILITATING MIXING OF GAS, COMPRISING: A SUPPORT AND STIFFENING BAR ATTACHED TO OPPOSITE SIDES OF A HOOD AND LYING IN A PLANE PARALLEL TO A DISCHARGE PLATE BUT CLOSER TO SAID DISCHARGE PLATE THAN TO SAID NECK; A PLURALITY OF CONTROL PLATES, EACH PROVIDED WITH A SLOT, ADAPTED TO BE SUPPORTED BY SAID SUPPORT BAR; AND A SINGLE CONNECTOR MEANS CARRIED BY THE SUPPORT BAR AND EXTENDING THROUGH THE SLOTS FOR POSITIONING SAID PLATES IN DESIRED LATERALLY EXTENDING POSITIONS IN A PLANE SPACED FROM SAID DISCHARGE PLATE TO THEREBY MODIFY THE DIRECTION AND PROPORTION OF GAS DISCHARGED FROM SAID PLATE. 